Name: Genuine Potato Bread
Ingredients: 100 lbs Patent flour; 15 lbs potato flour; 64 lbs water; 16 lbs sugar; 1.5 lbs lard; 0.5 lbs salt; 7 oz yeast

Why it works: Flour and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

Genuine Potato Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA medium oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a medium oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

Mix potato flour well with wheat flour.
Combine all ingredients to form a dough.
Let the dough rise for 2 hours (first punch).
Punch down the dough and let it rise for another 30 minutes (second punch).
Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

Shape and bake

Scale the dough into 18-ounce portions.
Shape and place in a medium-sized pan (7.5 inches long, 3.5 inches high, 3.5 inches wide).
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
Do not sell until the bread is at least 12 hours old.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + potatotop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,355 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Potato + sugartop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Patent flour: Provides the main gluten structure that holds the loaf together.
Potato flour: Adds moisture and a soft, tender crumb to the bread.
Water: Hydrates the flours so gluten can form and yeast can become active.
Sugar: Feeds the yeast and contributes sweetness and browning in the crust.
Lard: Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and softens the texture.
Yeast: Produces gas during fermentation, causing the dough to rise.